The Cricket on the Hearth

THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH

Charles Dickens

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The Cricket on the Hearth

by Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

This is the tale of John Peerybingle, the good-
hearted carrier, and his young wife Mary
(‘Dot’), interwoven with the story of poor
toymaker Caleb Plummer, his beloved blind
daughter Bertha, and the harsh old toy
merchant Tackleton, who is due to marry May
Fielding, a childhood friend of Dot. Comic
relief is provided by Tilly Slowboy, the
disaster-prone nursemaid of John and Dot's
baby, and Boxer, the family dog.

The cricket who chirps on the family hearth assumes fairy form to save the
day when disaster looms in the form of a mysterious stranger. Sentimental?
Certainly - but this, the third (1845) of Dickens’ short Christmas books, is as
charming and irresistible as its predecessors A Christmas Carol (1843) and
The Chimes (1844). The novella is subdivided into chapters called 'Chirps',
similar to the 'Quarters' of The Chimes or the 'Staves' of A Christmas Carol.

Total running time: 3:54:11
Read by Ruth Golding

acoustical liberation of books
in the public domain

Cover design: Kathryn Delaney
Cover illustration: John Leech, 1845

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